General Blood Cancers

Approximately every 3 minutes one person in the United States (US) is diagnosed with a blood cancer.

An estimated combined total of 172,910 people in the US are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2017.

New cases of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are expected to account for 10.2 percent of the estimated 1,688,780 new cancer cases diagnosed in the US in 2017.

Prevalence

Prevalence is the estimated number of people alive on a certain date in a population who previously had a diagnosis of the disease. An estimated 1,290,773 people in the US are either living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma.

Survival

Relative survival compares the survival rate of a person diagnosed with a disease to that of a person without the disease. The most recent survival data available may not fully represent the outcomes of all current therapies and, as a result, may underestimate survival to a small degree.

Deaths

Approximately every 9 minutes, someone in the US dies from a blood cancer. This statistic represents approximately 160 people each day or more than six people every hour.

Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are expected to cause the deaths of an estimated 58,300 people in the US in 2017.

These diseases are expected to account for 9.7 percent of the deaths from cancer in 2017, based on the estimated total of 600,920 cancer deaths.

Leukemia

New Cases

In 2017, 62,130 people are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia.

Prevalence

There are an estimated 363,794 people living with, or in remission from, leukemia in the US.

Survival

The overall five-year relative survival rate for leukemia has more than quadrupled since 1960. From 1960 to 1963, the five-year relative survival rate among whites (only data available) with leukemia was 14 percent. From 1975 to 1977, the five-year relative survival rate for the total population with leukemia was 34.2 percent, and from 2006 to 2012, the overall relative survival rate was 62.7 percent.

From 2006-2012, the five-year relative survival rates overall were

CML - 65.9 percent

CLL - 85.1 percent

AML - 26.8 percent overall and 66.8 percent for children and adolescents younger than 15 years

ALL - 70.7 percent overall, 92.3 percent for children and adolescents younger than 15 years, and 94.1 percent for children younger than 5 years.

Deaths

In 2017, 24,500 people are expected to die from leukemia (14,300 males and 10,200 females).

In 2009-2013, leukemia was the fifth most common cause of cancer deaths in men and the sixth most common in women.

Hodgkin (HL) and Non-Hodgkin (NHL) Lymphoma

New Cases

In 2017, there are expected to be 80,500 new cases of lymphoma diagnosed in the US (8,260 cases of HL, 72,240 cases of NHL).

Prevalence

In 2017, there are an estimated 816,634 people living with, or in remission from, lymphoma in the US.

There are 186,607 people living with Hodgkin lymphoma

There are 630,027 people living with non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Survival

The 5-year relative survival rate for people with HL has more than doubled, from 40 percent in whites from 1960 to 1963 (only data available) to 88.5 percent for all races from 2006 to 2012. The five-year relative survival rate is 94.3 percent for people with HL who were less than 45 years old at diagnosis.

HL is now considered to be one of the most curable forms of cancer.

The 5-year relative survival rate for people with NHL has risen from 31 percent in whites from 1960 to 1963 (only data available) to 72.6 percent for all races from 2006 to 2012.

Deaths

In 2017, an estimated 21,210 members of the US population are expected to die from lymphoma (20,140 NHL and 1,070 HL).

Myeloma

New Cases

An estimated 30,280 new cases of myeloma (17,490 males and 12,790 females) are expected to be diagnosed in the US in 2017.

Prevalence

An estimated 110,345 people in the US are living with, or in remission from, myeloma.

Survival

Five-year relative survival has increased from 12 percent in 1960-1963 among whites (only data available) to 50.2 percent from 2006 to 2012 (for all races and ethnicities).

The 3-year survival rate as of January 1, 2013, is 65.0 percent (for all races and ethnicities).

Deaths

Approximately 12,590 deaths from myeloma are anticipated in 2017.

Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)

New Cases

For the 5-year period from 2009 to 2013, there were approximately 76,755 new cases of MDS throughout the US, averaging an estimated 15,351 cases per year.

Approximately 43,518 cases were diagnosed in males (averaging 8,704 per year) and approximately 33,237 cases were diagnosed in females (averaging 6,647 per year).

Prevalence

The SEER program only recently began maintaining statistics for MDS. Prevalence statistics were not reported by SEER for MDS in 2017 at the time of this publication.

Survival

The SEER program only recently began maintaining statistics for MDS. Survival statistics were not reported by SEER for MDS in 2017 at the time of this publication.

Deaths

The SEER program only recently began maintaining statistics for MDS. Mortality statistics were not reported by SEER for MDS in 2017 at the time of this publication.

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The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides free information and support services.